And so, instead of being confronted with a sudden crisis that prompts real change, South Africa appears to be drifting - sustained by an expanding middle class and buoyant local economy - while the water in the pot keeps getting steadily hotter.

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But if water is used in the neti pot, or the solution isn't the right concentration, the tissue in the nose can get swollen, DelGaudio said.

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Thus, the frog-in-the-pot-of-boiling-water phenomena would appear to be the operative strategy at play.

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Instead, it was like the proverbial frog in the heating pot of water.

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Swish the clams gently in the water and let soak for a few minutes, then lift them out with a wire-mesh skimmer and place them in the other pot of cold water.

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Place a steamer or small colander in the pot and set cake pan on top so it rests above water and doesn't touch sides of pot.

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Obvious discomfort rose from the group and hit me in the face like steam from a pot of boiling water.

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Harvey Brown grabs each mesh pot as the winch pulls it out of the water, and methodically packs in more bait, shakes out the crabs into a box on deck, sorts the males from the females, tosses those too small to keep back into the bay and then drops the pot for its journey back to the bottom.

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This is a cyberspace equivalent of the fairytale about stone soup, in which two men set up a big pot full of water over a fire in a town square, drop in a stone, and start stirring.

ECONOMIST: Electronic commerce